157th largest plant in Virginia · 5627th nationally
Elkton is a natural gas power plant in Virginia with a nameplate capacity of 10.3 MW. It generates roughly 13.0k MWh per year — enough to power about 1,242 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 14% reflects intermittent or peaking operation. At 668 lb CO₂/MWh, its emission rate sits below the national grid average of roughly 800 lb/MWh.
Ghost bars are each month's theoretical maximum (10.3 MW nameplate × hours in the month). Filled bars are actual net generation reported to EIA Form 923. The gap between them is capacity factor made visible.
| Plant Name | Elkton |
|---|---|
| Operator | Merck & Co Inc |
| City | Elkton |
| County | Rockingham County |
| State | Virginia |
| ZIP | 22827 |
| Coordinates | 38.38360, -78.65280 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GEN1 | Natural Gas Steam Turbine | Natural Gas | 7.2 MW | Operating | 1982 |
| GEN9 | Solar Photovoltaic | Solar | 2.5 MW | Indef Postponed | — |
| GEN10 | Natural Gas Internal Combustion Engine | Natural Gas | 2.0 MW | Under Construction | — |
| GEN8 | Natural Gas Internal Combustion Engine | Natural Gas | 2.0 MW | Operating | 2024 |
| GEN6 | Natural Gas Steam Turbine | Natural Gas | 1.2 MW | Operating | 2021 |
| GEN7 | Natural Gas Steam Turbine | Natural Gas | 1.2 MW | Operating | 2021 |
| GEN3 | Natural Gas Internal Combustion Engine | Natural Gas | 1.1 MW | Retired | 2016 |
| GEN2 | Petroleum Liquids | Distillate Oil | 0.9 MW | Retired | 1982 |
| GEN5 | Natural Gas Steam Turbine | Natural Gas | 0.4 MW | Operating | 1982 |
| GEN4 | Natural Gas Internal Combustion Engine | Natural Gas | 0.3 MW | Retired | 2016 |
| CO₂ | 4.4k metric tons |
|---|---|
| NOₓ | 6 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 668 lb/MWh |
Annual totals and CO₂ rate reported by EPA eGRID for 2023. Reference averages are approximate U.S.-wide figures from the same dataset.
| NERC Region | SERC |
|---|---|
| Balancing Authority | Pjm Interconnection, Llc |
Natural gas plants are the workhorse of the modern grid. Combined-cycle units achieve very high efficiency and can ramp up and down quickly to balance variable renewables. They emit roughly half the CO₂ per MWh of coal and far less of other pollutants, but they still release upstream methane during fuel extraction.